The Giver

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful from start to finish
Review: Jonas, a 12 year old boy, knows nothing of the horrors of the past. He lives in a world of sameness, no colors, no pain, no weather. He knows nothing of the choices he could have. That is, until he is assigned as the Receiver of Memory. All "twelves" are assigned a job at the annual ceremony. He was assigned the most important job there was. He was to know of the horrors of the past and of the joys. The Giver was to show him all of this.

This book is solid. No complaints, no questions. Lois Lowry has done a great job of filling in the details. Take the time to read this book rather than reading it just to read it. It is well worth anyone's time.

Rating:
Summary: The Giver
Review: Jonas, a 12-year-old boy and his family are living in a very odd environment. Jonas is selected for a very special job in his community. Jonas decides to run away, will he make it past the security guards? To find out all these facts and others read this book. This is a laid back relaxed book. I recommend this to sixth grade and above...This is a three out of five star book.

Rating:
Summary: A sci-fi book that is wonderful
Review: Jonas, a boy close to being twelve yearsold, is nervous.It's not that he doesn't want to learn what job he recives, it's just that he's nervous that he gets some stupid job that he doesn't want some stupid job that he doesn't want, like physical education assistant. Little does he know that he will get the most important job that can be given to any twelve. Once he is told that he will be the Reciever of Memories he will begin a long, painful journey that shows how scientists take away his peoples color and fun.

Rating:
Summary: Appreciate One Another...
Review: Jonas, a twelve-year-old boy lives in a community where everything is pretty much kept the same. However, once he turns twelve, along with everyone else in his age group receives a job assignment that fits their personality. He is given one of the most important and respected jobs of all-the Receiver. As the Receiver, he learns what life was like before the sameness and learns to love that more than the life he knows.

I have read this book for the second time and I have thoroughly enjoyed it both times. It really makes a person appreciate the little differences in everyone and hope that even if peace can be achieved through sameness, we still should love one another for who we are and not for who we aren't. We should appreciate differences and learn to be much more open-minded.

Rating:
Summary: An Eleven year old boy recieves a very important job.
Review: Jonas, an 11year-old boy, lives in a perfect world, so it seems. He is never hungry or sad. No one may choose his or her own job. A committee of elders assigns the jobs. Jonas was selected to be the Reciever of Memory. The Reciever of Memory is the most important job in the community,and requires a great deal of responsability. As the Reciever of Memory Jonas recieved memories of colors,and pain from the Giver.

Rating:
Summary: What Will We Give?
Review: Jonas, an Eleven when THE GIVER opens, lives in a Community where everything is meticulously ordered: houses look alike, people dress alike, each family unit includes a father and a mother (who can apply for one male and one female child). Children begin their volunteer hours when they are Eights, and the Committee of Elders assigns them their roles in the Community at the Ceremony of Twelves. Because the people have chosen Sameness, nothing in their Community is unexpected, inconvenient, or unusual. They have no hills, no color, no cold, no sunshine. Their feelings are only superficial; their memories encompass only one generation. Pain is relieved instantly by taking a pill. They have abdicated choices.

The Receiver of Memory holds the position of highest honor within the Community, serving as the repository for the memories and knowledge of generations. Whenever the Committee of Elders are faced with a new situation, they are able to seek the counsel and advice of the Receiver. They have the benefit of experience without having to bear its pain.

Because of his intelligence, integrity, courage, wisdom, and Capacity to See Beyond, Jonas is selected to be the next Receiver of Memory. The current Receiver, who has held the position for decades, then becomes the Giver.

Ms. Lowry paints a vivid picture of this Community. Referring to everyday concepts in a slightly unusual way helps to set that society apart from our own. Babies younger than one year are called "newchildren," for example; children of the same age are "groupmates"; the elderly, the unhealthy, or those who have broken the rules three times may be "released."

Why might parents or teachers consider THE GIVER inappropriate for their children? I can only speculate on this since I find the book profoundly original and commendable:

1. The setting being a community without freedom. It should be noted, however, that citizens relinquished their freedom years earlier in order to escape the accompanying chaos. They are perfectly satisfied with their arrangement and are not oppressed.

2. The family being depicted as a temporary sociological unit rather than a permanent socio-biological unit. Nevertheless, this family unit provides a very nurturing atmosphere.

3. References to "Stirrings" (sexual arousal). These occur only a few times in the book and are only vaguely described. Since Stirrings are forbidden in the Community, young people begin taking a preventative pill upon first experiencing them and continue taking it daily until they enter the House of the Old.

4. The idea of young people bathing the elderly of the opposite gender. This happens only once in the book. It is a gentle, caring, and (given the ages of the participants) asexual experience.

5. The concept of "release." This pervades the book, but its meaning remains uncertain until Chapter 19, when Jonas witnesses a release.

I would think that for many readers these concerns would be assuaged by Jonas, the young protagonist who, in the course of his instruction, recognizes the advantages of previous systems and selflessly tries to better his Community.

Although there are aspects of this Community that we may find unsettling, we must remember that Lowry is not advocating this system. She is, in fact, inviting us to consider whether our own society has any of the characteristics of the Community that disturb us:

Do we attempt to make our lives pain free?

Do we attempt to erase unpleasant memories?

Do we use euphemisms?

Do we use robotic phrases, as for apologies?

Do we have anything resembling the "House of the Old"?

Do we have a ritual that might be called a "Ceremony of Loss"?

Do we attempt Climate Control?

Do we avoid talking about ways in which we differ from each other?

In our own Society, without a designated Receiver of Memory, that responsibility -- with its inherent pain and exhilaration -- falls to each of us. Vital questions for us to consider are Which memories will we receive? Which will we give?

Rating:
Summary: It's not like anything I have read before.
Review: Jonas, the main character in this book, lives life without choices. At first I was confused because this book opened up without any sort of explanation what so ever, but as I read on I was able to figure it out and I enjoyed learning about this alternative lifestyle. As for the ending, it was not at all what I expected but I can't see how Lowry could have made it any better. Read this book, it makes you think!

Rating:
Summary: Review of the Giver
Review: Jonas, the twelve-year old boy lives in the future.It is a world without pain, neediness and risk.Jonas gets the new "Receiver of Memory. He gets memories from the old Receiver and he sees the world with another view. As Jonas is not able to live in this world any more without changing the society he and his stepbrother Gabriel run out of the community.The author makes dear that the perfect world the people think they live in is a well-organized "dictorship" as there is no freedom of choice which suddenly becomes so precious that the reader is forced to recognize that something which seeems to be the most natural thing in the world is eszential for our lives. In addition opportunity to have own memories to make mistakes and to experience a life in which fate, catastrophes and powers we cannot control rule suddenly has to be regarded as a present we never really realized. The book is very interesting and easy to read.It is very interesting to look in such a world so far in the future.The language is the most time easy. The structure is easy and so the reader can the actions follow.It was one of the best books I ever read.

Rating:
Summary: The Giver for VHS assignment
Review: Jonus lives in the perfect society, no war, no sickness, and no color. When Jonus turns twelve, he receives his job assignment: the Receiver. All of the sudden none of the rules apply to Jonus, he can do and say whatever he wants. His training is the most physically and mentally demanding job of the entire town, and is assigned every six to seven decades. He receives memories from the past from the Giver, in order to counsel the Elders. The memories he receives are both pleasant and painful, beautiful and horrific. None of the people in the town have these memories because how would a perfect society react to their not so perfect ancestors. Many have failed at becoming the Giver. Jonus is faced with many tough decisions that will affect the entire community, the future is entirely up to him.

Rating:
Summary: please read abut the ending of the book
Review: just in case anyone is woneringabout the ending, allow me to enligten you to a few things. It is not dumb or stupid. It has been very well thought out. If you are wondering about the sled that Jonas rides on in the end, It is "a memory of his own" because the night of Jonas' first sled ride he dreamed of riding a sled and stopping right before he reached his destination. At the end, he did reach his destination, the only catch is that you don't know wha the destination is. YOu need to use you IMAGINATION. there is such a thing. yOur not supposed to know what it is, the author did not intend for you to know, your supposed to IMAGINE it. But for those of you who don't have any imagination, please feel free to read one of my many theories. when the community was established, it was only done with a few people, they were given a limited amount of space, hence the need for population control. Jonas just left that space and found the real world. Also it might interest you that there are colored lights and singing, and Jonas left right before December, It could very well be Christmas. I would like the think that Jonas will go to expirience the memory that was the givers favorite, the one that taught Jonas about love.